Eligibility criteria - Insurance Underwriting Agents
Principal requirements
To be eligible to apply for the Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agents status, your business must meet the definition of an Insurance Underwriting firm.
You must also satisfy the eligibility criteria detailed below, at the application stage and on an ongoing basis. There is an annual fee to be paid by all Chartered firms to maintain their Chartered title.
Fixed Criteria
These criteria must be met:
- A minimum of one of the firm’s board* members must hold the individual Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agent title.
- One of the firm’s board* members, who satisfies the criteria above must take on the role of Responsible Member. The Responsible Member is the firm’s principle point of contact regarding their Chartered status, and is responsible for the application and renewal stages, along with any related issues. The CII may, at its sole discretion, allow a Responsible Member of a larger firm** to hold a comparable Chartered title. In all cases, the Responsible Member must be a CII member.
- The entirety of the firm’s board*, together with 90% of customer-facing staff, must be members of the CII.
- Evidence of three years pre-application trading is required of all firms except for Lloyd's approved entities applying for the Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agents title, in which case 1-year pre-application trading as an authorised and regulated business is required. The CII may apply the above exception to other approved entities at CII’s sole discretion.
- Firms must have in place core values, business practices, and a diversity and inclusion policy that align with the CII Code of Ethics
- Firms must have an appropriate professional development programme in place.
Variable criteria
The variable criteria work on a points basis, with a minimum of 50 points required.
|
Criteria considered |
Points available |
|
Percentage of board* that individually hold the Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agent title. Subject to the specified requirements, Chartered titles from comparable awarding bodies will be recognised. |
25-50 |
|
Percentage of board* that individually hold the CII Diploma in Insurance. |
10-15 |
|
Percentage of customer-facing staff that individually hold the Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agent title. |
10-30 |
|
Percentage of customer-facing staff that individually hold the CII Diploma in Insurance. |
10-30 |
|
Percentage of customer-facing staff that individually hold the CII Certificate in Insurance. |
5-15 |
|
An additional rationale to support the firm’s application detailing relevant processes that are not already included in the criteria above. Typically, attainment of objectively assessed awards such as Investors in People or appropriate ISO or BSO certification, or the operation of a government-approved apprenticeship programme. Awards and certifications must be current when applying for or renewing Chartered status. |
5 |
* Or Appropriate Management Team (AMT). Where the principle business of an entity is not insurance and an unincorporated specialist division has been created for the purpose of managing this part of the business, the CII may at its sole discretion, recognise a suitably qualified AMT member as complying with this provision.
**Larger firm – the definition will generally be consistent with that of the UK government (i.e. a company with 250+ employees).
Applications for corporate Chartered status cannot be accepted from:
- Sole traders
- Limited liability companies with one director only
- Limited liability companies with one or more corporate directors
- Limited liability partnerships with one or more corporate members
- Firms with one or more corporate partners
- Firms outside the UK or the Republic of Ireland*
*Those international firms who are currently Chartered will remain unaffected and will be able to submit their applications for renewal as usual.
Fees for corporate Chartered status
Fees apply on application and renewal and reflect the cost to the CII in administering, monitoring and enforcing the Chartered scheme. Once your application has been approved, we will confirm the fee that applies.
|
Number of employees |
Annual fee |
|
Up to 10 |
£500 |
|
11-50 |
£1,000 |
|
51-250 |
£1,500 |
|
251+ |
£2,000 |
Comparable third-party titles
Another way firms can meet the criteria for corporate Chartered status is to have a qualifying percentage of board members holding a comparable Chartered title.
Find out more about comparable third party titles